BUSINESSLIVE – Manchester-headquartered dating app Love at First Swipe has won a trademark battle with Match Group. Match Group objected to the dating app's UK trade mark application to register 'Love At First Swipe'. However, the UK's Intellectual Property Office ('UKIPO') rejected Match's opposition and allowed LAFS's application to proceed for dating apps and services. The UKIPO rules that the word swipe wouldn't be seen as a brand of Match, but more as a descriptive function for dating apps and services.
Month: March 2022
How Aisle Aims to Scale Business After Closing Deal With Info Edge
YOUR STORY – Founded in 2014, Bengaluru-based high-intent dating app Aisle has taken a vernacular approach to the online dating game. On Tuesday, Info Edge acquired a 76% stake in Aisle after investing Rs 91 crore ($12M), making it the single largest stakeholder in the dating company. Talking about the deal, Able Joseph, Founder and CEO, Aisle, said the company was always on the lookout for a partner that could help it reach its potential and compete with market leaders. Able will continue to lead the company with support from Info Edge's ecosystem. Moreover, Aisle and Info Edge will frequently exchange knowledge and work together to scale the business.
Why Bumble Is Calling on Daters to Close the Romance Gap
Dating News Headlines: Love at First Swipe, Vinylly, Aisle, Bumble
Quick links to today's dating news headlines.
- Dating App Love at First Swipe Wins Trade Mark Battle With Match Group – Business Live
- 'A Natural Lead-in to Setting up a Date': Vinylly Dating App Makes Music Key in Suggesting Matches – AZ Central
- Here's How Dating Platform Aisle Aims to Scale Business After Closing Deal With Info Edge – Your Story
- Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT Holders Get a NFT Dating App – NFT Evening
- Why Bumble Is Calling on Daters to Close the Romance Gap – AdWeek
- Study Suggest 600% Increase in Female Dating Profiles Stating 'Looking for a Feminist' – Jerusalem Post
Hornet Ceases Monetization in Russia, While Remaining Available
HORNET – Hornet, the world's queer social network with 35m users, will continue serving queer users in Russia, while ceasing all monetization through advertising and subscriptions (resulting in a 7-figure impact on revenue). Hornet is the largest queer app in both Russia and Ukraine, and is one of very few ways for queer people in both countries to connect to their community amidst increasing anti-LGBTQ sentiment in militarized and authoritarian environments.
See full article at Hornet website
This post also appears on Very Social Network
Q&A With Cory Gorovitz, Founder of LuvHut
THE TOP 100 MAGAZINE – Cory Gorovitz is the founder of LuvHut, a new video-based dating app.
Q: What inspired you to create LuvHut and how the app works.
A: I have always enjoyed solving problems and finding new methods to address antiquated practices. This is very much the case with dating apps. LuvHut is a video-based platform. Our algorithms provide compatibility percentages for each match. Users can then send date requests, and earn various rewards like crypto for each date that's booked.
Q: How is LuvHut making the dating search easier and more effective?
A: We enable users to book seamless dates, whether they be solo or group, through our HotSpot portal. Plus we've eliminated catfish.
Q: How can people get your app or become part of LuvHut?
A: It will be available for both iOS and Android this spring and singles can sign up through our website and social media. As of today, we're close to 7K users on our waitlist.
Q: How did you raise funding early on?
A: I started it myself with $40K. On January 7, 2022, we announced our partnership with TechRupt Innovations, a startup accelerator, and they're investing $330K at a $1.65M valuation. We are also seeing interest from angel and VC investors to scale our efforts.
Bumble Stock up 16%
MARKETWATCH – Shares of Bumble were up ~16% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the online-dating company posted upbeat user-growth numbers. Bumble had 1.64M paying users in Q4, up from 1.27M a year prior. Bumble disclosed that it plans to discontinue its operations in Russia.
Tinder Adds Background Checks
WALL STREET JOURNAL – Tinder is introducing a tool to let users run background checks on prospective dates, as the company continues to address concerns about the safety of dating apps. Match Group said it has been developing the tool since last March, when it announced an investment in Garbo Technology, a nonprofit background check organization. While some Tinder users may benefit from learning potentially important information about a date, false positives or lack of data in some results are also likely to make some people fearful, said Naomi F. Sugie, associate professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California. Garbo said it has tried to address the pitfalls of background checks by adding its confidence indicators and limiting the information it provides.
by Ann-Marie Alcántara
See full article at Wall Street Journal
Bumble Q4 and Full Year 2021 Results
BUMBLE – In addition to announcing its Q4 and full year 2021 results, Bumble has also announced that it is discontinuing its operations in Russia, as well as removing all of its apps from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in Russia and Belarus. The combined revenue from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus was ~2.8% of total Bumble annual revenue in 2021.
Q4 2021 Financial Highlights:
- Revenue increased 25.7% YOY to $208.2M.
- Bumble app revenue increased 42.2% to $150.5M.
- Badoo app and other revenue decreased (3.5)% to $57.7M.
- Total paying users increased 10.6% to 3M.
- Net loss was $14.7M, compared to net loss of $26.1M in Q1 2021.
Full Year 2021 Financial Highlights:
- Revenue was $765.7M, compared to $542.2M in 2020.
- Bumble app revenue was $532.9M, up from $337.2M in 2020.
- Badoo app and other revenue was $232.8M, compared to $205M.
- Net earnings were $286.9M, compared to loss $(110.2)M in 2020.
Grindr Introduces Albums, a New Way to Share Private Content
GRINDR BLOG – Albums are the easiest way to share photos with other users on Grindr. In the last year there's been a 113% increase in the number of times users send multiple photos and a 72% increase in the number of expiring photos sent. Grindr learned that users want more authority over the photos they share on the app. They want to be able to share multiple photos with one click, and to revoke access just as easily.